Áine Collins (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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822. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the reason responsibility for supplying security for elderly and disabled persons has been given to Pobal; the reason its cost will escalate from €66 yearly to €35 monthly; and whether the service will provide other information on health issues for the persons involved. [14847/15]

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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My Department manages the Seniors Alert Scheme which encourages community support for vulnerable older people in our communities by providing grant assistance towards the purchase and installation of personal monitored alarms to enable older persons, of limited means, to continue to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. The scheme is administered by local community and voluntary groups with the support of my Department. My Department undertook to consider new approaches to the Seniors Alert Scheme in 2014 and arising from this, it was decided that the scheme be managed by Pobal, given that organisation’s significant experience delivering programmes on behalf of Government.

Pobal’s management and administrative services for the Scheme included an invitation to tender for the supply and installation of personal monitored alarms, which was publicly advertised on eTenders on 20 October 2014. The tender included a requirement for suppliers to set out their value added services. The tender process, which is being led by Pobal, is almost complete. Following on from this, a panel of regional suppliers will be contracted to provide the equipment within specific regional areas. The tender was broken down into 10 regional lots to ensure that SME’s were not disadvantaged due to excessively large lot sizes.

A monitoring services panel has also been advertised via eTenders on 6 November 2014.  This process will engage a panel of quality checked monitoring suppliers who will outline the costs they charge and the service they provide. This information will be provided to the community groups and individuals to ensure they can make the best choice in relation to their monitoring services supplier. The use of this panel is voluntary; the older person will be responsible for choosing the monitoring supplier of their choice, either from the panel or outside the panel.   

The renewed scheme will focus on broadening the social inclusion element of the scheme by reducing the administrative burden of procurement on the local community organisations therefore enabling them to focus their resources on more engagement with the older people.  This will facilitate increased community support and the social inclusion of vulnerable older people in our communities.

While Pobal will manage the Scheme on behalf of my Department, the strategic policy direction of the Scheme will remain my Department’s responsibility. My Department will also have an oversight role in relation to Pobal’s delivery of the Scheme, and will ensure that the valuable community support for elderly persons provided by the many hundreds of community and voluntary groups across the country will be maintained.